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OneFootball
Chloe Digby·16 July 2024
England, Netherlands, Italy through to EURO 2025; Ireland shock win
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OneFootball
Chloe Digby·16 July 2024
The Women’s European Championship qualifiers drew to a close on Tuesday, with all sides in action at the same time.
Here’s what happened.
Scorers: O’Sullivan 66′, Russell 76′, Patten 90′; Bècho 79′
Ireland pulled off their only win of the qualifying campaign with a sensational 3-1 win over France
With France already having qualified, this Ireland side knew that they were destined for the play-offs and a spot in League B.
Their brave display against England on Friday must’ve given Eileen Gleeson’s side a boost, as they took an unlikely lead against European giants France thanks to a goal from Denise O’Sullivan.
That advantage was doubled thanks to Julie-Ann Russell, with her second goal in as many appearances for Ireland.
France got one back thanks to Vicki Bècho with just over ten minutes to go, but the Irish somehow managed to add another to seal a famous win.
England held out for a lacklustre 0-0 draw to secure qualification over opponents Sweden.
This was a winner takes all match, with both sides knowing they would guarantee qualification with a win against the other.
A point was enough for England though, and the majority of the game was a nervy affair as the scoreline remained on a knife-edge at 0-0.
Hannah Hampton had to bail England out late on with a save from a Filippa Angeldal shot from range.
This was by no means a classic performance from the Lionesses, but they did enough to get the job done.
Scorers: Andrews 46′, Wade 67′
Northern Ireland sealed their place in the play-offs with a 2-0 win over Bosnia Herzegovina.
Both of these sides had already reached the play-offs before kick off, and took until the first minute of the second half for one of them to take the lead.
Northern Ireland’s Casey Howe unselfishly squared the ball for the onrushing Joely Andrews to finish comfortably with the side-foot.
It was a welcome breakthrough for Andrews, who had hit the crossbar in the first half.
That lead was doubled as Northern Ireland started to put some distance between themselves and Bosnia when Lauren Wade lashed home an excellent finish.
Scorers: Beccari 20′, Giugliano 31′, Cambiaghi 74′, Nyström 88′ (OG)
Italy have earned qualification with a huge 4-0 win over Finland.
The Azzurre came into the match knowing that a win would be enough to qualify, and they set about that task quickly and efficiently.
Chiara Beccari broke the deadlock with a header, before Roma’s Manuela Giugliano did what she does best and doubled the lead for Italy.
Two goals in the last 15 minutes turned this into a rout and put the qualification in no doubt for Italy.
Scorers: Graham Hansen 61′; Miedema 80′
A late Viv Miedema goal saw Netherlands scrape through to qualify for EURO 2025.
Netherlands just needed to avoid defeat in order to qualify, but their early scoring woes followed them into the first half of action.
This was the second game in a row Andries Jonker’s side have failed to register a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes of a match, a record that was last echoed back in March 2017.
They were made to pay for that lack of cutting edge early in the second half, when Denmark captain Caroline Graham Hansen found the back of the net.
A 1-0 lead was not going to be enough against a team that could name Miedema in the lineup and the new Manchester City striker equalised to put her team back in a qualification spot, bumping Norway down to the playoffs.
Scorers: Bonmatí 39′, Teresa 90+1
Spain had already qualified ahead of this match with Belgium, despite a shock defeat to Czech Republic on Friday.
Meanwhile Belgium knew that they had to better the Czech Republic result in order to avoid relegation.
Who else would open the scoring just before half-time than Spain superstar Aitana Bonmatí?
Finishing strong, Spain added another in stoppage time from Real Madrid’s Teresa.
Scorers: Hanson 39′
Both of these sides had secured a place in the play-offs ahead of tonight’s match, but Scotland knew they could reach a favourable position in League A if they avoided defeat.
Just before half-time Kirsty Hanson broke the deadlock, ghosting in at the far post and getting first to a loose ball for a close-range finish.
Scorers: Capeta 7′, Ribeiro 28, Silva 86′; Farrugia 16′
Portugal demolished a Malta side that were battling for their lives by a 3-1 scoreline.
Francisco Neto’s side had already qualified for the play-offs via League A, but minnows Malta knew that an unlikely result may see them reach the play-offs as the best fourth-placed team with a win.
Malta fought back to equalise after Ana Capeta’s early opener, but in truth Portugal had too much quality for that result to stick.
Scorers: Fishlock 8′, McAteer 27′
Wales have reached the EURO 2025 play-offs with a 2-0 win over Kosovo.
Boss Rhian Wilkinson had one objective ahead of this match and that was to avoid defeat to reach League A of the play-offs.
They got off to a great start when Jess Fishlock found the back of the net and in doing so became Wales’ all-time top scorer with 45 goals.
While the opener was supplied by an experienced goalscorer, the second came from Mary McAteer, who finished from a Fishlock shot that had rebounded off the post.
Scorers: Bühl 11′, 90+2, Brand 39′, Schüller 53′,
Germany responded to an uncharacteristic heavy defeat last Friday with a 4-0 win over Austria.
While Germany had already secured their place at EURO 2025, Austria too had sealed their fate in terms of a play-off place ahead of kick off.
Yet after a 3-0 defeat to Iceland on Friday night, it was as though Germany came out of the blocks with a point to prove.
Goals from Klara Bühl and Jule Brand in the first half and a strike from the prolific Lea Schüller early in the second made sure that Germany had a 3-0 lead of their own.
Adding one more for good measure, the scoreline proved to be a mere blip for Horst Hrubesch’s side.
The draw for the play-offs will be made on Friday at 13:00 CET.
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